Man Stabbed Woman 30 Times Before Cashing Her Winning Lottery Ticket

An Oregon man has been sentenced to life in prison after prosecutors said he brutally stabbed a woman about 30 times, stole from her RV and later cashed in her winning lottery ticket.

Jason David Perillo, 51, pleaded guilty Thursday, June 25, to second-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Catherine Grace Crosse, according to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office.

Perillo was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

Prosecutors said the killing happened on New Year’s Eve in 2024 inside the RV where Crosse lived with a companion. Crosse suffered approximately 30 stab wounds, many of them to her head and neck, authorities said.

According to prosecutors, Crosse and her companion supported themselves by selling small amounts of fentanyl and cocaine. Perillo was allegedly one of their customers and went to the RV on Dec. 31, 2024, to buy drugs.

Investigators said phone records and surveillance video showed Crosse was still alive when Perillo entered the RV. About two hours later, he left alone while carrying items taken from inside, prosecutors said.

Later that day, Crosse stopped answering calls and text messages. Her companion became worried and asked a friend to check on her.

That friend went to the RV, found Crosse dead and called 911.

As investigators dug into the case, they found text messages exchanged shortly before Crosse’s death showing that she and her companion had talked about how they planned to spend $6,750 they had saved.

But when investigators searched the RV after Crosse was killed, they said the cash was gone.

Authorities also discovered that a $400-winning lottery ticket Crosse had gotten days earlier had vanished before it could be redeemed.

Prosecutors said Perillo had no steady or reliable source of income at the time. But shortly after the killing, he allegedly bought a truck for $2,000 and gave another $1,000 to his wife.

Investigators later learned that Perillo redeemed Crosse’s missing winning lottery ticket four days after her death, according to prosecutors.

Perillo ultimately pleaded guilty to killing Crosse and will now spend at least 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.